


Since I felt our worlds collide

by Ex-Genesis (orphan_account)



Category: Disney RPF
Genre: Angst, Incest, M/M, Pre-Slash, Soul-Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-31
Updated: 2010-07-31
Packaged: 2017-11-13 19:43:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/507053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Ex-Genesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You Ruined Me" by JC Chasez</p>
            </blockquote>





	Since I felt our worlds collide

The reason Nick doesn't get mad at Joe for checking up on his levels is because Joe can feel it too.  
  
Sometimes they hurt each other but there's never an apology because it's like insta-revenge. Usually they'll share a look and that'll be that; their next hug will be a little longer.  
  
Supposedly the scenario is completely fictional, but when they look it up online it's called like, soul-bonding. Joe says he's heard of it before, but Nick can only shake his head at the screen. Soul-bonding. Either they'd be laughed at, or put through a series of mildly to excruciatingly painful tests. No. Just... no.  
  
They're finally old enough to do their own thing. They try to spend as much time away from each other as possible. Just to see if they can break it. Joe visits Australia while Nick records his own album. Nick tours for that album, and Joe doesn't come to as many shows as he'd like. Then Nick's in Les Mis - London. It's a big step, but Joe feels the kick in his blood go down when he realizes that he can at least come to a few shows. See his baby brother accomplish just one more thing he's always wanted to. Then he busies himself in Africa.  
  
One night, his stomach feels so twisted that he throws up outside his tent in a water bucket. It's not his... It's so easy to tell when it's not his own pain he's feeling. He'd worry about Nick, but then Nick would have to worry about Joe. It wouldn't cancel anything out - just make for a sleepless night.  
  
They're all back in Texas, Nick sliding into Joe's room easily, shutting the door behind him. They hug for a second, where they sit on the bed, and it's awkward but better, so much better than Joe remembers and Nick husks out a question beside his ear before pulling back so that they can look at each other.  
  
"Did you feel -" They both turn to sit back against the wall simultaneously, neither commenting on it even though to be honest, it never stops weirding them out.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Sorry. I had to test it, you know. I couldn't just bank on you tripping over yourself." He elbows Joe like he's joking, but it's not really very funny. It's very likely that the older they get, the more of a problem this will become. Joe already went through one summer, of random highs and lows, watching Nick throw up after games, once even during. He'd blame it on stupid softball, but they're both fine after Camilla dumps him. Which was hard for Joe not to bring up, but he wants to ignore it as much as Nick, who hardly looked him in the face for a while after, did.  
  
Nick sees his failed attempt and sobers up, reaching over his stomach to get a hand around Joe's elbow. There's something he needs to say, and he takes a shaky breath, wondering if he actually can. "I think we might need to talk about why this happened in the first place. Joe I -"  
  
It's not fair if it's his fault. If it  _is_  his fault, then that's just how he was born, because for as long as he can remember he and Joe have had this connection. He didn't mean to. To fall in love with Joe or... "I think it might be my fault," he finishes, biting his lower lip into his mouth and pulling his hand away. Joe hisses when he feels Nick bite his lip too hard and Nick apologizes under his breath again, quickly, causing Joe's eyebrow to quirk.  
  
For some reason this stops at the physical. Sometimes Joe wishes he knew what Nick was thinking, feeling emotionally. But it's hard enough for him to understand his  _own_  thoughts and feelings so maybe it's good to only have one person's in his head. "Probably not, Nicky," Joe says, and he means it. If anyone is to blame, it's him, he's sure. Though he'd rather it not be anyone's fault at all.  
  
The problem is that they can't even brush this off as a blessing, haven't ever been able to save each other with it any more than anyone else has. It's just there and irritating, and yeah, painful. Usually painful. They've never talked about... the other physical feelings they sometimes experience when there's no reason they should be. And overall, it may not be direct, but he thinks it affects their relationships with other people. It causes him to think about Nick way more than he should, and he assumes the same for his little brother.  
  
Nick sags against him a little, and then Joe's smiling just because, despite everything. "We'll just. Talk about it later," Nick says. Joe doesn't respond, any affirmation probably a lie, and Joe's never wanted to think about what soul-bonding actually means, or the fact that whenever he  _had_  heard about it, it was between a couple. So... He hopes they won't talk about it later.


End file.
